Chamber and committees

Questions and answers

Parliamentary questions can be asked by any MSP to the Scottish Government or the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body. The questions provide a means for MSPs to get factual and statistical information.

Written questions must be answered within 10 working days (20 working days during recess)
Other questions such as Topical, Portfolio, General and First Minister's Question Times are taken in the Chamber

Urgent Questions aren't included in the Question and Answers search. There is a SPICe fact sheet listing Urgent and emergency questions.

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Question reference: S3W-21281

Asked by: John Wilson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 24 February 2009
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 4 March 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive what action is being taken by NHS boards participating in the national bowel screening programme to target groups with low uptake.

Data from the Scottish Bowel Screening pilot showed that uptake was higher in women than in men and uptake was lowest in deprived areas.

NHS boards are looking at means to encourage relevant individuals'' participation in the programme through, for example, the use of Keep Well projects to include information about the bowel screening programme. New programme posters, a flyer and a DVD are also being developed to help NHS boards target specific groups.

Question reference: S3W-21283

Asked by: John Wilson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 24 February 2009
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 4 March 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive how much was spent on (a) direct and (b) indirect drug and alcohol services in Lanarkshire in 2007-08.

Information on what is spent directly and indirectly on drug and alcohol services is not held centrally. Funding is allocated to NHS boards for drug and alcohol treatment and support services. It is for NHS boards together with partners in local Alcohol and Drug Action Teams to decide which services to fund based on identified local need.

In 2007-08, £1,591,000 was allocated to NHS Lanarkshire to fund drug treatment and support services and £832,722 for alcohol treatment and support services.

In addition, local authorities allocate funding for alcohol and drug services on the basis of their local needs and priorities. In the past, this level of funding has been significant, and at least comparable to the ring-fenced funding provided to NHS boards. NHS boards also use resources from their unified budget to supplement funds made available through the alcohol and drug misuse budgets.

Audit Scotland is currently undertaking a study on the scale and effectiveness of spend on alcohol and drugs. The findings from this study are due to be published shortly and should help provide a more complete picture of what is spent.

Question reference: S3W-21280

Asked by: John Wilson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 24 February 2009
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 2 March 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive, in light of the publication of Asset Management in the NHS in Scotland by Audit Scotland, whether it plans to initiate strategies for the routine collation of information from NHS bodies on the performance and maintenance of fixed NHS assets.

Question reference: S3W-20630

Asked by: John Wilson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 05 February 2009
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 2 March 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive what information it has on how many people suffering from myalgic encephalopathy/chronic fatigue syndrome are in receipt of incapacity benefit.

Question reference: S3W-20629

Asked by: John Wilson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 05 February 2009
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 2 March 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive what information it has on how many people suffering from myalgic encephalopathy/chronic fatigue syndrome are recorded as unemployed.

Question reference: S3W-20631

Asked by: John Wilson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 05 February 2009
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 2 March 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive how many people diagnosed with myalgic encephalopathy/chronic fatigue syndrome entered further or higher education in 2007-08, broken down by local authority area.

Question reference: S3W-20632

Asked by: John Wilson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 05 February 2009
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 2 March 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive how many people were diagnosed with myalgic encephalopathy/chronic fatigue syndrome in the North Lanarkshire council area in each of the last five years.

Question reference: S3W-21278

Asked by: John Wilson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 24 February 2009
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 26 February 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive when the Scottish Housing Regulator will publish its comparative study of homelessness services of five registered social landlords and Glasgow City Council.

Question reference: S3W-20628

Asked by: John Wilson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 05 February 2009
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 16 February 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive what the total expenditure by NHS Scotland was on medical research in the field of myalgic encephalopathy/chronic fatigue syndrome in each of the last five years and how this compares with the UK Government’s expenditure for the same period.

The Chief Scientist Office (CSO), of the Scottish Government''s Health Directorates, has responsibility for encouraging and supporting research into health and health care needs in Scotland. One of the main agencies through which the UK Government funds medical and clinical research is the Medical Research Council (MRC). Expenditure figures on myalgic encephalopathy/chronic fatigue syndrome research are as follows:

	2003-04	2004-05	2005-06	2006-07	2007-08
CSO	£0.05 million	£0.05 million	£0.05 million	£0.05 million	£0.05 million
MRC	£0.14 million	£0.56 million	£0.75 million	£0.80 million	£1.35 million
Total	£0.19 million	£0.61 million	£0.80 million	£0.85 million	£1.40 million

The figures for the MRC (which has a UK-wide remit) will include expenditure on research projects carried out in Scotland.

Question reference: S3O-05864

Asked by: John Wilson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 February 2009
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 12 February 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has proposals with regard to updating and increasing flexibility to the traditional one week work experience for secondary school pupils.